Folding carriage-top



' (No Model.)

J. QUINDRY. FOLDING CARRIAGE TOP.

No. 430,435. Patented June 17, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN QUINDRY, OF FORT BRANCH, INDIANA.

FOLDING CARRIAG E-TO P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,435, dated June 17,1890.

Application filed January 11, 1890. I Serial No. 336,711. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1,.TOHN QUINDRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fort Branch, in the county of Gibson and State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in FoldingCarriage-Tops; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to folding carriagetops; and it consists in theimproved construction and arrangement or combination of partshereinafter fully disclosed in the description, drawings, and claims.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide improved means forspreading and spacing the bows of a carriage-top; and, second, toprovide improved means for quickly and perfectly collapsing the top whenit is folded down. These objects I attain in the carriage-topillustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which the same reference-numerals indicate the sameparts, and in which- Figure 1 represents a side View of my improvedcarriage-top, showing it raised; Fig. 2, a similar view of the loweredtop, and Fig. 3 a rear View of one side of the top.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the forward bow, 2 the middlebow, and 3 the rear bow. Said forward bow is pivoted in the usual or anydesired manner to the carriage body or seat, and has the middle bowpivoted to it, which bow in turn has the rear bow pivoted to it. Thecovering 4 of the top is stretched over said bows, and the rear curtain5 is secured to the rear bow and to the body or seat of the carriage.The bows are connected near their upper ends by a horizontal joint 6,which consists of a forward rod or bar 7, pivoted upon a prop 8 to theforward bow, and having the front 9 of the top attached to its forwardend and connected by a downwardlyfolding rule or knuckle-joint 10 at itsrear end to the forward end of another bar or rod 11, which is pivotedby a prop 12 upon the middle bow,

and connected at its rear end by an upwardly-folding rule or knucklejoint 13 to a short bar or rod 141, which is pivoted at its rear endupon the rear bow by a prop 15. The upper end of a joint or brace 16,having a rearwardly-folding rule or knuckle joint 17 near its middle, ispivoted to said horizontal joint, between its forward joint 10 and theprop of the middle bow, and the lower end of said joint is pivoted tothe seat or body of the carriage. A lip 18 projects inward from theupper arm of said joint or brace, so that it may engage the rear arm ofthe middle bar of the horizontal joint when the top is being folded.

Then the top is raised, the vertical side joint 16 is straightened andthe horizontal joint 6 is straightened into a straight line, keeping thebows braced in their proper positions at the proper relative distancesfrom each other.

When the top is to be folded, the side joint is folded, and the top willtilt back with the bows in their relative positions and the horizontaljoint straight, until the lip 18 upon the side joint strikes the middlebar of said joint, when the rear joint" or articulation of said joint isfolded up and the forward joint or articulation is folded down, and thebows will then be folded closely down, one upon the other, by thebending or folding of said horizontal joint.

The folding of the horizontal joint by the side joint will beaccomplished entirely by the gravity of the top in falling back, andsaid joint will be straightened out by straightening the side joint, andwithout the necessity of additional straightening.

Having thus fully described the construction and arrangement orcombination of the several parts of my improved carriage-top, itsoperation, and advantages, what I claim as new is- 1. In a carriage-top,the combination, with three bows, of a horizontal joint composed ofthree bars or rods pivoted to said bows and connected by a forwarddownwardly-folding and a rear upwardly-folding rule or knuckle joint,and a side joint pivoted to the carriage and to said horizontal jointbetween the forward joint and the middle bow, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a carriage-top, the combination of the bows 1, 2, and 3, thehorizontal joint 6, having the bars 7, 11, and 14 pivoted to said bows,and having the upwardly-folding rear joint 13, and the doWnwardly-folding forward joint 10, and the side joint 16, pivoted to the bar 11,

between the joint 10 and the fulcrum of said 10 bar, and having the lip18 upon its upper arm, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN QUINDRY.

\Vitnesses:

JOHN KNAPP, CHARLES CHASE.

